Government offers school pupil data to private companies

Data relating to every school pupil in England is now available for use by private companies thanks to a change
in legislation implemented last year.

The move is part of a wider government initiative to "marketise"
data, which includes initiatives such as the much-criticised Care.data and the selling off of taxpayer data by HMRC.

Education Secretary Michael Gove launched a public consultation
back in November 2012 on proposal to let the Department for
Education share extracts from the National Pupil Database "for a
wider range of purposes than currently possible" to "maximise the
value of this rich dataset".

The National Pupil Database (NPD) contains detailed information
about pupils in schools and colleges in England, including test and
exam results, progression at each key stage, gender, ethnicity,
pupil absence and exclusions, special educational needs, first
language.

The data have been collected since around 2002 and is now one of
the richest education datasets in the world, holding what the
government says is "a wide range of information about pupils and
students" at different phases.

Extracts of the data are available for use by "any organisation
or person who, for the purpose of promoting the education or
wellbeing of children in England are: conducting research or
analysis, producing statistics, providing information, advice or
guidance." Bespoke extracts are also available on request.

NPD data isn't as sensitive as Care.data, but it does contain
personal identifiable information about children, including the
name, home address, post code, date of birth, exam results, types
of disability, whether the child is in care and whether they've
been excluded from school.

Given the sensitivity of the data, one might have expected a
more widespread public debate or awareness.

"The central concern is that parents and pupils themselves are
not sufficiently aware of the way the data is being shared with
third parties," explains data consultant Owen Boswarva, who has
followed the move closely.

Furthermore, there is no way of opting out of the database
should a child or parent so wish. The Department for Education
(DfE) insists that organisations requesting information need to
comply with the Data Protection Act and have appropriate security
in place to process the data.

The DfE has published a list of organisations that have accessed the data
between April 2012 and February 2014. It includes many government
bodies, academic organisations, NGOs and even media companies
including the Financial Times.

A DfE spokesman told Wired.co.uk that it would not be charging
for access to the data. He added: "Decisions on whether data
can be released are subject to a robust approval process and anyone
requesting data must comply with strict terms and conditions on
security, handling and use of the data, including protecting the
identity of individuals."